Mini Sidebar

Category: SMILE

The New South Wales Police Force’s , (Australia) eyewatch program brings the community and police together to communicate and solve problems, using Social Media – facebook. The NSWPF has two strategies:

Local Community policing information via 91 local and specialized facebook pages.

The reinvigoration of its Neighbourhood Watch program thorugh the use of Closed and Secret Facebook groups (90 groups established as at 24th of April 2012)

Text:

The New South Wales Force, Australia, (NSWPF) has nearly 16,000 sworn officers serving a population of seven million in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The NSWPF’s jurisdiction spans an area of approximately 310,000 square miles.

In 2010, a team was created to assess the feasibility of taking the traditional neighborhood watch groups into online forum using social media. By early 2011 an implementation plan was developed and project eyewatch was born.

Project eyewatch represents the NSW Police Force’s response on behalf of the Government of NSW commensurate to the reinvigoration of the concept of Neigbourhood Watch in the 21st Century.

Active Neighbourhood Watch Groups mobilised through project eyewatch, using the social network tool facebook will be given opportunity to participate with their local Police in active crime prevention. Reducing crime through conscious security measures, visibility and community cohesion can often neutralise risks posed by those in the minority who seek to disrupt our lives.

It is envisaged that the community, have a wealth of knowledge about their own environs, are in the best position to consider law enforcement and local government strategies to reduce crime and the perception of crime. To assist this process it is considered that project “eyewatch” will operate around (4) key strategies;

STRATEGY 1 – We will focus on the people who need our help
With “eyewatch” and Local Police and Crime Management Units will develop a strong opportunity for community to participate in Policing – Our greatest asset is community information, which can be acted upon by Police who are adaptive and responsive.

STRATEGY 2 – We will empower accountability
Local Police using “eyewatch” will engage their community to participate in the decision making about policing their communities. They will be facilitated by trained coordinator’s and be supported by Police and Local Government coordination to ensure all opportunities for improvement to safety in communities are recognized.
STRATEGY 3 – We will balance priorities
Recognising our community, seeking engagement in achievements and developing issues is the best way to gain support for setting priority. Our strategies and success developed by Local Community and Government Teams will be marketed through “eyewatch”and via media outlets.

STRATEGY 4 – We will develop community capacity and sustainability
Local Police will work with their community precincts and actively recruit key community members to develop or enhance their capability and be measured on outcomes, where the need for improvement was identified. If required a higher level coordination and support will be provided to them by Crime Prevention Partnerships, Regional Interagency Teams and support services.

Community engagement is already part of the way in which police “do the business”. It is the involvement of the public both individually and through groups, committees and agencies in the decisions we make and the activities police undertake. “eyewatch” allows a greater flow of information via the social network phenomenon.

The program has seven main benefits: gives the community greater access to information, provides real-time engagement, seeks a consensus on problems, provides accurate and up-to-date information, facilitates forums to find solutions, creates an ability to provide feedback, and develops a high-value community network.

NSWPF’s eyewatch strategy incorporates not just Facebook pages, but also Facebook groups. The Facebook pages are used by the Local Area Commands to push out crime prevention messages, alerts, updates, and other pertinent community information. The Facebook groups provide a closed forum for discussion, essentially bringing traditional Neighborhood Watch Groups online. However, these online groups add a new element by giving the opportunity for a particular demographic to collaborate in environment with law enforcement. For example, groups have been created for the retail community, those from rural areas, and school administrators. In addition, NSWPF has created internal groups, such as a group for crime prevention officers. Because the agency spans such a large geographic area, the best place to come together is sometimes online, rather than in person, and the Facebook groups provide the opportunity for internal collaboration.

Using social media tools has allowed NSWPF to reach larger and more diverse audiences than ever before. The online forum serves as a place to get the conversation started, but the conversations do not stop there. People are sharing the information off line as well. There have been numerous success stories since the inception of the eyewatch program. One example: there has been a 20 percent increase in the information flow to the crime stoppers tip line.

When asked what advice he has for other law enforcement agencies looking to establish social media presences, Chief Inspector Maxwell’s first comment was “don’t be scared.” Social media is simple and can be used as a joint problem-solving tool, bringing the community and the police together.

As the NSWPF moves toward its 150th anniversary, they plan to establish an eyewatch presence for all their Local Area Commands. As the program becomes more mainstream in New South Wales, NSWPF hopes that the social media tools are used not just in emergencies and other specific circumstances, but in the “every day” policing that is so important to a community.
=============================================

Chief Inspector Josh Maxwell will deliver the opening keynote address at The SMILE Conference™ in Richmond, VA in September.

Maxwell has been a police officer in NSW for 22 years, with his career covering General Duties, Plainclothes and Investigations, Public Order and Firearms and Operational Safety Instructional duties. He has been involved in tactical, operational and strategic command of major incidents and police operations as well as education delivery, administration, human resource management and leadership. Chief Inspector Maxwell is currently the Project Manager for Project “eyewatch” – New South Wales Police Force.

Chief Inspector Maxwell has undertaken significant studies in the tertiary, vocational, law enforcement and emergency management sectors and holds a Master of Education (ACU), Graduate Diploma of Professional Leadership & Education (ACU), Graduate Certificate in Professional Development & Education, Bachelor of Policing (CSU) and an Associate Diploma of Policing (CSU).

When was the last time someone brought up Twitter or Facebook in a conversation about cops using either when what followed wasn’t something negative? We’ve all heard the negative stories about police use of social media and it’s time we start hearing more about the positive outcomes of police use of social media. LAwS Communications is producing the ConnectedCOPS™ Awards to recognize and celebrate the incredibly great work being done by law enforcement agencies and law officers all over the planet.

Nominations are open through May 31st. Judging will take place in June and July and winners will be notified in early August. Our award sponsors are Nixle and LexisNexis. We have four more spots for sponsorships, contact LAwS Communications for more information about sponsorship. Terms and conditions for the awards are spelled out here.

Winners will receive:

Recognition of their achievement at the awards ceremony at The SMILE Conference™ in Richmond

A beautiful custom crystal trophy

Financial assistance for one to attend SMILE in Richmond

Free admittance to The SMILE Conference in Richmond

International acknowledgement of their achievement in partnering media publications.

ConnectedCOPS Award of Excellence at a Large Agency

This award is given to a law enforcement agency, anywhere in the world, of 151 sworn officers or more that has demonstrated overall excellence in the use of social media to enhance its services to the public. The agency exhibits leadership, creativity and innovation in its use of social media to engage, educate, recruit, and etc. The agency has a broad and deep understanding of social media use and applies sound governance and strategy in its social media operations. The agency also promotes the use of social networking in law enforcement through its outreach to colleagues and by mentoring others.The nominee for this award must be a law enforcement AGENCY.

ConnectedCOPS Award of Excellence at a Small Agency

This award is given to a law enforcement agency of 150 sworn officers or fewer that has demonstrated overall excellence in the use of social media to enhance its services to the public. The agency exhibits leadership, creativity and innovation in its use of social media to engage, educate, recruit, and etc. The agency has a broad and deep understanding of social media use and applies sound governance and strategy in its social media operations. The agency also promotes the use of social networking in law enforcement through its outreach to colleagues and by mentoring others.The nominee for this award must be a law enforcement AGENCY.

ConnectedCOPS Leadership Award

This award is given to the individual sworn officer up to and including the rank of Sergeant (or its international equivalent) at any worldwide law enforcement agency who has singularly demonstrated exemplary and selfless leadership in the use of social media to improve public safety and/or enhance his or her agency’s community engagement and reputation. This individual is creative, innovative and fearless and shares what s/he knows by mentoring others, participating in public speaking opportunities and leading by example.The nominee for this award must be an individual law enforcement officer.

ConnectedCOPS Top Cop Award

This award is given to the sworn law enforcement executive of the rank of LT (or its international equivalent) and up, at any worldwide law enforcement agency who has demonstrated significant and sustained executive leadership to further the use of social media and Internet technologies in law enforcement. This individual is a risk-taker and a pioneer in his or her promotion and use of social media in policing. The recipient of the Top Cop Award also gives his thought leadership and expertise freely to others.The nominee for this award must be an individual law enforcement officer.

ConnectedCOPS Social Media Investigator

This award is given to the sworn law enforcement investigator at any worldwide law enforcement agency who, as a practitioner, has used social media successfully to solve crime. The Social Media Investigator practices appropriate security measures and supervision in his/her investigations.The nominee for this award must be an individual law enforcement officer.

ConnectedCOPS Social Media Incident Management

This award is given to the sworn law enforcement officer or agency anywhere in the world who has used social media to manage and/or influence a public safety/emergency event, whether unforeseen or known. This officer/agency has strategically and successfully implemented social media engagement techniques to positively and effectively communicate public safety information in an urgent or emergency situation.The nominee for this award can be a law enforcement agency OR individual law enforcement professional to include civilians.

Can the police and community have their cake..and eat it too in the digital world we now live in?

Community and police collaboration for success and safety worldwide reached a new level of trust and understanding this week at The SMILE Conference in Vancouver. The event was co-produced by LAwS Communications and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police.

More than one hundred fifty delegates attended the event that featured presentations and networking on the “how to” use social media platforms to help stop, solve and prevent crimes together worldwide.

The mutual respect and understanding that was generated among the delegates in the room spread far beyond the venue as tweets and Facebook posts back and forth between community members and police worldwide using the twitter hash tag #smilecon.

The outcome of this panel went far beyond the objective listed in the program as:

From hockey riots to the G20 forum of world leaders, today’s policy leaders are facing new challenges posed by new media and the people who use them. These panelists have either lived within the frenzy of citizen protest, studied the ramifications of privacy infringement, or actively managed the experience from a police perspective. The panel is moderated by one of the world’s foremost leaders in social media in policing.

Part 1:

Part 2:

It became very apparent that the community expects police to “get human” and “be human” in real life and in social media. When the police make a mistake, the public expect to hear the words “I’m sorry” from the leaders of their policing organizations. It also was very apparent that the police were demanding more participation than ever before form the public in community safety efforts, and that the police were at the table and prepared to listen to the community.

Community Volunteer @PaisleyRae Meets The Hague Police

Paisley Rae & Guus Auerbach

Perhaps the best outcome of this conference for me was speaker and conference delegate Mr. Guus Auerbach, Chief of Digital Forensics at The Hague Police Service speaking with community member Paisley Rae after this panel about exactly how social media was being used to facilitate lawful, peaceful protest at The Hague in collaboration with politicians, the police and activists. It was heartwarming to see the passion of these two brilliant minds talk candidly about saving lives and making the world a better, safer and more peaceful place for everyone. Auerbach said “We’ve always focused on the chances, not the threats that social media brings us. The chances are winning and they are very diverse.”

I urge anyone who was at SMILE, watched it from afar on the live streams or haven’t yet check it out to spend a few hours reviewing the content of this conference, as well as the four previous SMILE Conferences in Washington, DC, Chicago, Illinois, Santa Monica, California and Dallas, Texas.

The world is changing, and it is changing for the better. Social media communication platforms are allowing the people to speak, and the voices are being heard!

The irony of this tweet from Paisley Rae upon leaving Vancouver is what community is all about. I met Paisley Rae on twitter during a chaotic G20 weekend in June 2011 in Toronto. She was angry and letting her anger at Toronto Police show loud and clear on twitter. In my capacity of social media officer for the Toronto Police Service I conveyed words to the effect on twitter that said “I’m sorry”.

As I boarded the plane home with Constable Nathan Dayler of the Toronto Police Service Public Order Unit and the newly appointed Social Media Officer for the Royal Turks and Caicos Police Kevin Clarke I received this tweet from Paisley Rae. (For context, my twitter name is “GraffitiBMXCop”

sent via UberSocial for BlackBerry in reply to @eva_starlily
On Twitter: http://twitter.com/paisleyrae/status/185114911540658176

#OccupyTO #OWS Meets @DeputySloly On Twitter

I will conclude this blog post with a tweet I saw shortly before boarding the plane home from the Vancouver SMiLE Conference from Daniela Aum, a Toronto based activist who was involved in G20 and the Occupy Toronto movement. The tweet says it all about the outcome and value of the Vancouver SMILE Conference.

Less than a week from now, law enforcement professionals from five countries (Canada, Netherlands, U.S., UK, Australia) will gather in Vancouver to share best practices and ideas in law enforcement use of social media and the Internet. The SMILE Conference™ will occur March 26-29 at the Fairmont Vancouver.

LAwS Communications is producing the Vancouver event in partnership with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police. The SMILE Conference™ began just under two years ago in April in Washington, D.C. Subsequent conferences occurred in Santa Monica, Chicago and Dallas, with each city’s Police Department hosting. The Vancouver event is the fifth event and the first to be held outside of the United States.

Follow hashtag #SMILEcon and, if you can’t be in Vancouver, feel free to tweet your questions to our assembled group of experts. Additionally, some sessions will be streamed live at The SMILE Conference website.

Here’s a look at the agencies who will be represented at The SMILE Conference.

The fourth SMILE Conference begins Sept 28th in Dallas, Texas. Chief David O. Brown and the men and women of the Dallas PD will be our hosts as we delve into issues involving flash mobs, social activism, the changing role between law enforcement and the media.

“Tweeting from the Frontline: Social Media and Public Order” by Superintendent Mark Payne of West Midlands, UK

“Social Media for Homicide Investigations” by Detective Frank Skubic and Constable Scott Mills of The Toronto Police Service

“‘See Something, Say Something™’ Campaigns and the Ethical Issues of Mass Surveillance in Law Enforcement and National Security” by Professor Kristene Unworth of Drexel University

“Social Media: Public Safety, Censorship and Dissent | Analysis of Tools and Trends in the Control of Social Media Dominance” by Peter Berghammer, Senior Strategist at Public Communications Worldwide

“Expect the Unexpected – Social Media During the Vancouver Stanley Cup Riot” by Anne Longley, PIO at Vancouver Police

“Intercepted: Social Media Monitoring for Flash Mobs and Mega Parties” by David Gerulski, VP at Digital Stakeout

“Strategic Communications: Adapting New Media to Reach the News Media” by Captain Mike Parker of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department

The conference will also feature a panel discussion: “Interference or Assistance: Media, Social Citizens and the Speed of Information” which will address citizen activists, media snafus, trolls and how law enforcement can best deal with them.

Here’s a look at the agencies and organizations who will be represented at The SMILE Conference in Dallas.

Arlington (TX) Police Department

Auburn Hills (MI) Police Department

Carrollton (TX) Police Department

Cassidian Communications

Corpus Christ (TX) Police Department

CyberWOrx, 808, LLC

Dallas (TX) Police Department

Drexel Universisty

Encryptics

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Ferndale (TX) Police Department

Hunt Consolidated, Inc.

Information Sharing Environment

Killeen (TX) Police Department

Lexis Nexis

Los Angeles (CA) Sheriff’s Department

McKinney (TX) Police Department

Minnesota Department of Public Safety

New York Police Department

Nixle

Orange County (FL) Sheriff’s Office

Public Communications Worldwide

Richland Hills (TX) Police Department

Richardson (TX) Police Department

Richmond (TX) Police Department

Roanoke Police Department

Rocky Mountain Information Network

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (CA)

San Angelo (TX) Police Department

San Antonio Police Officer’s Association

Sobey’s (ON) Inc.

Spokane County (WA) Sheriff’s Department

Spokane (WA) Police Department

York Regional Police (CA)

Texas Auto Burglary & Theft Prevention Authority

Toronto Police Service (CA)

Trophy Club (TX) Police Department

Turkish National Police

University Park (TX) Police Department

Vancouver Police (CA)

West Midlands Police (UK)

West Texas A & M University

We hope you can join us at The SMILE Conference. If not, watch hashtag #SMILEcon. Additionally, we expect to stream some of the presentations.

About ConnectedCOPS

The vision behind ConnectedCOPS is to enhance law officers’ ability to succeed with social media tools by providing insight, encouragement, education and the overall support required. It is also to promote the insightful thoughts of the law enforcement social media visionaries by providing them a voice on this blog.